Oh, and the Deathclaws are back and more powerful than ever.
Look around in the starter town and you'll find a laser pistol and you get a 10mm pistol (pretty good one too) early on. As soon as you can, upgrade the vermin rifle with extended clips to hold more than 5 shots. It will get you buy until you get the cowboy repeater (same as Lincoln's Repeater from FO3) or the 9mm submachine gun. When you get the .357 revolver keep it but you'll be splitting the .357 ammo between the cowboy repeater and the .357 revolver. You also find a plasma pistol and rifle early on (rifle is in the bad guy casino where the deputy is being held) and I found a laser automatic rifle that was on the Nightkin mutant that was killing the rancher's braumen bulls.
Here is a list I've compiled so far of the special named weapons that I know about and I'm sure there are quite a bit that I'm missing.
Displacer Glove: Pushy – On the body of a Jackal Gang member, inside the Ruby Hill Mine.
Oh, Baby! – Near a Chewed Stealth Boy in the deepest part of Charleston Cave.
Laser Rifle: AER14 Prototype – Inside the Vault 22 Common Area, on the blocked stairwell only accessible from the Food Production level.
Spiked Knuckles: Love and Hate – On the Viper Gang Leader in Bonnie Springs.
Alien Blaster – At the Hovering Anomaly.
Gauss Rifle: YCS/186 – At the Mercenary Camp. Wild Wasteland trait must NOT be taken.
9mm Submachine Gun: Vance’s Submachine Gun – Inside the safe at Win’s Hideout.
Laser Pistol: Pew Pew – On the body of Allen Marks, after completing “The Legend of the Star.”
Bladed Gauntlet: Cram Opener – Owned by Little Buster, in Camp McCarran.
Cowboy Repeater: La Longue Carabine – Carried by Corporal Sterling, in Camp McCarran.
This Machine – Your reward from Contreras for not turning him in, at the end of Free Quest: Dealing with Contreras.
Plasma Rifle: Q-35 Matter Modulator – In a pod casement, in the locked shipping room of REPCONN HQ.
9 Iron: Nephi’s Golf Driver – Carried by a Fiend named Driver Nephi, in his territory.
Euclid’s C-Finder – Carried by Max, in and around Nick and Ralph’s, on the Freeside Streets.
Straight Razor: Figaro – Owned by Sergio, in the back of King’s School of Impersonation.
Boxing Gloves: Golden Gloves – On the upper bar of the Casino Floor, inside Lucky 38 Casino.
9mm Pistol: Maria – On Benny, when you kill him.
Lead Pipe: The Humble Cudgel – Near the Prospector Corpse, inside the Sealed Sewers.
Grenade Rifle: Thump-Thump – Lying on the floor near the Ant mound at the Nellis Array.
BB Gun: Abilene Kid LE BB Gun – Lying on a shelf inside the Fiend’s Shack.
Minigun: CZ57 Avenger – Inside, at the back of the container trailer, by the dead body, in the Devil’s Throat.
Marksman Carbine: All-American – On the floor, on an upturned table in the Armory Cache, Vault 34.
Pulse Gun – Found in the Armory Cache, Vault 34.
Bumper Sword: Blade of the East – Carried by Legate Lanius, in the legate’s camp.
.44 Magnum Revolver: Mysterious Magnum – Owned by the Lonesome Drifter, by the Sunset Sasparilla Billboard, close to El Dorado Dry Lake.
Fat Man – Near the skeleton by the southern silt pool, in Quarry junction. Also occasionally found on prospector corpses.
.357 Magnum Revolver: Lucky – In the floor safe inside the cashier’s area of the Vikki & Vance Casino, in Primm.
Combat Knife: Chance’s Knife – In Chance’s Grave.
Missile Launcher: Annabelle – Carried by the Nightkin Sniper on Black Rock summit, Black Rock mountain.
Zap Glove: Paladin Toaster – Near the body of the dead prospector in Black Rock cave.
Sawed-Off Shotgun: Big Boomer – Carried by Old Lady Gibson, in Gibson scrap yard.
That Gun – On a shelf in the locked storage room inside the Dino Bite Gift Shop, in Novac.
Grenade Machine-gun: Mercy – On the floor of Dead Wind Cavern, near a dead BoS Paladin.
Varmint Rifle: Ratslayer – Propped up against the desk, inside the Broc Flower Cave.
Machete: Liberator – Carried by Dead Sea, in Nelson.
Cleaver: Chopper – Found on the stove of Wolfhorn Ranch.
Frag Grenade: Holy Frag Grenade – In the basement of the eastern church in Camp Searchlight. Wild Wasteland must be taken.
Fire Axe: Knock Knock – In the Camp Searchlight Fire Station, in the restrooms.
Sniper Rifle: Gobi Campaign Scout Rifle – In the footlocker of the Sniper’s Nest, overlooking the Cottonwood Cove.
DogTag Fist: Recompense of the Fallen – In Aurelius’ desk, on the upper floor of the main building in Cottonwood Cove.
Hunting Shotgun: Dinner Bell – Inside the shack at the Old Nuclear Test Site.
Tesla Cannon: Tesla-Beaton Prototype – On the ground near the crashed Vertibird.
In hardcore mode, it is important when you spec out your character that you put extra points into Endurance, Science and Repair. Endurance will increase your hit points as well as stamina to carry more inventory. Science and Repair almost go hand in hand as with the Science skill, you'll be able to craft your own ammo and with repair, you can repair your own gear without having to pay anyone for it. I know that at the start you can repair your own gear to 100% without having to put any points into it but if you do it will take less resources to repair an item. For example, you have Merc Grunt armor and needs to be repaired and you have the base repair points on your character and it might take 5 or so additional Merc armor suits to repair your Merc Grunt armor to 100%. If you had put points into repair, the amount of resources needed for repairs significantly drops. Speech and Barter are also important in Hard Core mode. You can get by with putting little into strength and the other stats in the beginning because you do get a perk that gives you S.P.E.C.I.A.L points (1) that you can add and you'll be able to get implants later on to boost your S.P.E.C.I.A.L stats further in addition to any armor that has S.P.E.C.I.A.L stats. Basically, hard core mode isn't really geared to the 100% combat type characters and you'll need to be able to talk yourself out of trouble just as much as shooting your way out of trouble.
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